Mega Millions jackpot jumps to $970M ahead of Friday’s drawing

Ticket holders in California, Florida and Tennessee split the largest ever US lottery jackpot in January 2016 - a Powerball prize of $1.586 billion.

The sales cut-off for Mega Millions is at 10:44 p.m. EDT Friday, Powerball is 9:58 p.m. EDT Saturday and Hoosier Lotto is 10:39 p.m. EDT Saturday. About half of the jackpot winnings would go to taxes.

Do not respond the emails, officials say.

And if you want to buy Mega Millions tickets in time for a chance to win the almost $1 billion jackpot, take note that tickets are sold in 44 states, plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The cash option for Mega Millions is now at $548.6 million. The next drawing is Friday.

The jackpot has been growing since July, when some California office workers won $543 million.

Powerball now rolls to an estimated $430 million for Friday's drawing, while the Mega Millions jackpot for tomorrow night has increased to $900 million. "That's worth two dollars", said Robert Doty, the executive director of the Minnesota Lottery.

He added: 'When people ask me, I just tell them that the odds of a lottery game make it a game of fate. The next Powerball drawing is Saturday. Players get five numbers from 1 to 70 and one Mega number between 1 and 25. FALSE. Your odds of winning remain the same whether one person plays the game or a trillion. "The way you want to think about it is that there are set amount of numbers in the game, and it's you against probability, not against the other players".

But when it gets close to $1 billion, even he can't resist, knowing he just bought the winning ticket. The final tax bill can depend on if the state where you live taxes at a higher or lower rate than where you purchased the ticket.

In June 2009, a then 27-year-old Kings Mountain resident Jeff Wilson's life changed when the Powerball ticket given to him by his father matched all six numbers, winning him the $88.1 million prize.

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